Conte calls on Son, Kane, Lloris to lead Champions League push

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min hugs manager Antonio Conte during a game against Everton on Saturday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte called on Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris to lead the club's last-minute dash for a Champions League spot this season.

After losing 3-2 to Manchester United over the weekend, Spurs are now in eighth place in the Premier League, six spots behind Arsenal in fourth place. With only the top four clubs in the Premier League earning a ticket to the Champions League, Spurs are now well outside of contention and will need exceptional form over the remaining 10 games of the season if they want a shot at reaching the continental tournament.

“If you want to have a hope to fight until the end for this type of target, this is the moment I have to ask a lot to the big players,” Conte said on Tuesday.

“To Harry, Hugo and Sonny. These players have to lead the situation to keep us until the end there. At the moment, experience is very important. We don’t have a lot of experience in this team and it’s right to ask the players with experience and big talent to give everything.

“I think they’re giving everything but 100 percent is not enough. We need to ask 120, 130 percent to have this type of target.”

As of press time, Spurs were set to take on Brighton in a mid-week Premier League fixture on Wednesday night. Although the No. 13 team ought to be a relatively easy fixture for Tottenham, Conte anticipated a challenge.

“My expectation is to have a difficult game,” he said. “We have seen Brighton, also in the game against them in the FA Cup, we won the game but they played a really good game, they created many chances and they created problems.

"In England there are no easy games, especially against this type of team.”

Spurs beat Brighton 3-1 in an FA Cup game in February.

Following the Brighton game, Spurs will be back in action on Sunday as they face London rivals West Ham at home.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]